(12. 572)

synchronoptica

one year ago: plural forms of compound expressions (with synchronopticæ), assorted links to revisit plus Disco Demolition Night (1979)

eleven years ago: our VW bus plus the cost of camouflage 

7x7 (12. 571)

edge of eternity: Poseidon’s Underworld’s cinematic vacation to the Grand Canyon 

the open-hearted many and the broken-hearted-few: the venerable and ongoing Leonard Cohen Files—via Metafilter  

litra: an ancient Byzantine scale complete with a set Greek letter-shaped counter-balances discovered in Türkei  

voulez-vous danser avec moi: the mambo scene of Brigitte Bardot and Dario Moreno from Michel Boisrond’s 1959 « Come Dance with Me? »  

flatland: the four dimensional world of Alicia Boole Stott—see also  

and if i haver: an endurance run of The Proclaimer’s I’m Gonna Be—via Web Curios 

it happened here: a contemporary table-read of Stephen King’s what-if premise of Apt Pupil considered during a staycation from Today in Tabs—via ibidem

qin shi huang mausoleum (12. 570)

Having been discovered by a group of farmers, Wang Puzhi and his neighbour Yang Zhifa (with his five brothers), in March of the year prior, the archaeological community marked a pivotal moment on this day in 1975 in the excavation of the site, unearthing the central burial pits around the tomb of Qin dynasty’s founder and first emperor (皇帝, huángdì) of a unified China to reveal a retinue of some eight thousand life-sized terracotta figures of soldiers and horses standing guard for his journey into the afterlife.  The necropolis is a microcosm of the imperial palace with halls, offices and the thousands of replica units, armed, standing in formation. The tomb itself at the centre of the terracotta army (previously) is hermetically sealed and remains unopened to prevent degradation of the body, artefacts and grave goods inside as well as out of concerns for safety of researchers, with artificial rivers of mercury and other toxic decorative elements suspected to be contained within—possibly also an element of revenant superstition. Aside from the Qin emperor, a mass though ceremonious grave holding the remains of one-hundred-twenty-one individuals has been uncovered, whom researchers believe to have been labourers and artisans that built the necropolis.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: double-click jargon (with synchronopticæ), more on the zombification of the legacy web plus Biden vows to stay in the US presidential race   

thirteen years ago: a hundred-handed cactus plus subversive stickers 

fourteen years ago: odious debts 

trump dump (12. 569)

As a made-for-television drama and the only interesting side-show from the administration, we’ve been ignoring Trump’s decision to reignite the trade war over his gimmicky tariff regime. Only two real negotiations successful between the UK and Vietnam, Trump is again threatening to levy punishing export duties against Canada, Brazil and many others by the first of August, and whilst investors and businesses (over-stocked in preparation for the first round that never materialised) have likely factored in this bullying and charade—there’s no reciprocity in reciprocal tariffs—markets could still react with disfavour to all this chaos and uncertainty. There’s nothing substantive behind the threats and the interlocutors know this, but for the sake of appeasement, the aggrieved parties put on the line other so-called barriers to trade as a trade-off that Trump could count as a win and the real stakes come in the form of compromising environmental, health and safety standards. In other recent news, Trump has toyed with the idea of federalising New York City and Washington, DC to put both irksome metropolises directly under his control. The Department of Justice is directed to sue sanctuary cities in order to end their policies of protecting migrants and the same time prioritising cases to revoke American citizenship. The budget for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is tripled under the One Big Beautiful Bill and now surpasses that of the Marines. The US supreme court, in recess, issued a shadow docket ruling that allows the administration to deport individuals to third party nations with which they have no affiliation. Whilst no new sanctions are being levied against Russia, Trump is expressing increasing exasperation with Putin—and it was revealed by an audio clip to donors during a fund raising event (an exchange during the campaign and not released until now) that Trump reportedly told Putin and Xi he would bomb their respective capitals should they continue incursion on Ukraine and Taiwan—“he said ‘no way’ and I said ‘way.’ Reversing a very pregnant pause, however, Trump is restarting weapons deliveries to Kiev and supplying US air defence materiel. National weather agencies are ordered to scrap climate websites and collecting data—Trump praising the botched response of his Federal Emergency Management Agency director who is tasked with dismantling it and devolving the responsibility to the states in the wake of devastating flooding in Texas. Invoking a high school football analogy, the state’s governor said that only losers focus on their mistakes. Such winning.   

there’s a hole in my heart that’s as deep as a well for that poor little boy who’s stuck half-way to hell (12. 568)

Happily every one was rescued safely due to an international effort but it really astonished me to be reminded that the Tham Luang Nang Non (ถ้ำหลวงนางนอน, the Great Cave of the Sleeping Lady) rescue was taking place seven years ago, with the final remaining four adolescent members of a Thai junior association football league and their assistant coach retrieved on this day in 2018. The party of thirteen were spelunking as monsoonal rains flooded the cavern, blocking their way out and leaving them stranded without a means of communicating their whereabouts and distress and were eventually led to the group’s—nicknamed the Wild Boars— last known location by a teammate that had chosen to stay behind. A British caver named Vernon Unsworth living in the area and with experience of the cave complex heard about the missing boys and counselled the government and emergency response to procure the assistance of Navy SEALS for the operation, one of who tragically died during the rescue—which was an ultimate success thanks to the persistence and expertise of a large network of helpers. The remove strikes as strange and somewhat outside of time, evoking memories, more distant but as persistent of the 1987 rescue of Baby Jessica from that well in Midland Texas with the same cast of sensationalism and international media coverage. Forty-five hours into the ordeal, a roofing contractor, Ron Short—born with the rare condition cleidocranical dysplasisa that left him without collar bones and was accustomed to working in tight confines, volunteered to go down the narrow shaft, and whilst considering his offer, a paramedic ended up descending into the well and saving the trapped infant. There’s some strange pre-Mandela Effect going on here that almost forms a false memory of how The Simpsons might have parodied the Thai incident as well in the fullness of time—“Dig up, stupid!” As the drama played out for the latter, Elon Musk offered and delivered a tiny submarine. Whilst thankful for the efforts and affirming that continued development of such manoeuvrable submersibles was worthwhile, Musk’s assistance was ultimately dismissed as implausible for the environment. Unsworth, who helped coordinate the effort, ridiculed Musk’s contribution as a publicity stunt, garnering the ire of Musk for his perceived ingratitude and counter-accusations that the seasoned explorer was a pedo, falsely accusing him of paedophilia, going so far as to engage a detective to further discredit and besmirch his character—with Musk issuing a public apology later. As with Baby Jessica, numerous adaptations came out in book, cinematic and song form and most significant the pledge to end the Thai policy of statelessness for residents of the so called Golden Triangle, a region with porous and poorly-defined borders with Myanmar, Laos and China, which affected several members of the team who were subsequently granted full citizenship.

synchronoptica

one year ago: scanning code from magazines (with synchronopticæ), the artistic side of Samuel Morse plus Surrealistic logos

thirteen years ago: demographic devolution among the German constituency  

sixteen years ago: a potential life-extending compound isolated on Easter Island 

up with people (12. 567)

Whilst not exactly counter-programming for the later Expo ’74 and other iterations, the evangelic conference held in mid-June 1972 in Dallas, Texas sponsored by the Campus Crusade for Christ—the name meant to suggest a “spiritual explosion” and capitalise off the international expositions—and was considered the showcase event of the Jesus Movement which arose as a backlash to the perceived godlessness of alternative lifestyles and the cultural awakening of the previous few years of the Baby Boomer generation. Also described as “Christian Woodstock,” it took place during the height of the protests against the Vietnam (the final night coinciding with the Watergate break-in), with some grumblings at the fringe that were mostly kept muted by the atmosphere of enthusiastic patriotism that bordered on Christian nationalism, musical acts included Johnny Cash, Larry Norman and Kris Kristofferson and prominent guest speakers the reverend Billy Graham (previously). Attendance for the multi-day event ranged from eight-thousand to one hundred thousand, attending seminars and workshops—mostly US college students but with a foreign delegation representing around seventy five countries. Conservative groups were critical of Explo ’72 for its ecumenical nature, reaching out to both Protestant and Catholic ministries, as well for the music and dancing. Much more about the conference and side-show as well as its legacy from We are the Mutants contributor Michael Grasso at the link above.

8x8 (12. 566)

peering capacity: a chronological representation of the undersea cable network and earthbound exchange points that forms the global internet—via Maps Mania  

somewhere, somebody must have kicked you around some: a growing thread of emigration options  

turophiles’ delight: a two part podcast on fromology, the science of cheese and cheese-mongering 

this time for africa: a possibly unironic appreciation of the 2010 World Cup anthem—Waka Waka, inspired by Zangaléwa, the Cameroonian marching song—via Pasa Bon!  

first serve: an overview of the history of tennis  

a fine bromance: a series of ruptures in the relationship between Trump and Putin—previously—possibly signals the end  

holding hands while the walls come tumbling down: a mental time-capsule of Gen-X doom ballads 

frame of preference: a story about early Mac settings and control panels narrated through ten interactive emulators—see previously—via Kottke

synchronoptica

one year ago: Savage Curtain (with sychronopticæ), impressions of West Berlin in the summer of 1977 plus Project 2025

twelve years ago: World Heritage Sites around Germany plus RIFs for the Pentagon

thirteen years ago: East-Bloc versions of Western vehicles 

7x7 (12. 565)

alligator auschwitz: Trump’s Florida detention centre is by every definition a concentration camp

solvitur ambulando: when in doubt, go for a walk—see previously  

mcmxxv—mmxxv: the century in one hundred films 

rif me daddy: US supreme court overrules injunction against executive branch illegal mass firings after passage of Trump’ domestic policy agenda  

geschirrspüler: a 1959 German dishwasher in action  

adam und eva: a group of Europeans’ failed attempt to found a utopia during the interbellum period on a remote Galápagos island—via Neatorama 

race and ethnicity: the case of George Shishim, invoking Jesus, illustrates the particularly American obsession with whiteness to the exclusion of others—see more